The Beast Inside
by KonahrikB157
Summary: -Oneshot- "Everyone has their inner demons, and they all try to silence them... but some make bargains with them..."


**Disclaimer: I do not own the Elder Scrolls series, only my OC.**

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**The Beast Inside**

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The two full moons cast pale light over the trees, which were so thick that the light barely made it to the forest floor. In a clearing among the trees stood a small campsite made of five tents, a campfire in between the tents, and six humans of both genders, four men and two women, sitting around the flames. Normally, people were content to stay in cities or other settlements, however these people were not law abiding citizens, they were in fact criminals, bandits who robe caravans for money by threatening the innocent. The people sat around the fire, some drinking and laughing, others counting the gold pieces they stole from a caravan earlier.

One of the men was in the middle of a story about how he made the caravan master soil himself when a rustling noise from a bush on the edge of the clearing got everyone's attention. Everyone looked to the source of the noise and picked up their weapons, preparing to kill whatever was coming near their camp, whether animal or man. When they all reached the edge of the camp and started walking toward the forest, a small rabbit jumped out of the bush, only to quickly hop away at the sight of the armed humans.

Everyone was about to go back to their places around the fire, when they turned around to find a massive creature had knocked down one of the men with a strike to the face. Before anyone could react, the beast drove it's claws into the man's stomach and then its maw into the upper chest, ripping out the man's heart and swallowing it whole. The creature was large and muscular, with the hind legs of a wolf, the arms of a man, and claws on its hands and feet; the beast had a wolfs head and tail, and it was covered in white fur and had cold blue slit-shaped eyes.

By the time the criminals raised their weapons, the creature had driven its claws into the stomach of one of the women with such force that they came out her back and tore her in half, sending her upper torso flying while her legs crumpled to the ground. One of the other men tried to bring his blade down on the beast's arm, only to have his arm slashed and his blade fall to the ground, while the beast tore his chest open with both paws.

The remaining three bandits all tried to attack from different angles: the two men circled the beast to try and draw its attention, while the remaining woman readied her bow and arrow to strike the beast from a distance. Before they could put their plan into action, the beast grabbed one of the men with both paws and tossed him at the woman, giving him stab wounds from the claws in the process and throwing both of them to the ground. As they tried to get to their feet, the remaining man was quickly disposed of with slashes from the beast's claws to his chest, making him die of shock and blood loss. The beast went over to the entangled bandits drove his claws into their upper backs, severing their spines and ending their lives quickly.

With the prey dead, the beast howled loudly in the night while staring at the moons... until a voice came through the beast's mind.

_"Are you done yet?" _the voice of a male spoke with a nordic accent.

_"You know I feed first, then I'll let you take charge again."_ the beast growled in his mind.

_"Then hurry up, I have work to do in the morning, and I want to get at least some sleep tonight!" _the man's voice in an annoyed tone.

The beast growled to himself as he went around to each corpse in camp, save for the first, since he had already devoured the first man's heart, and repeated the process with each body, male and female. When it was done, the beast ran into the forest on all fours, like a real wolf, and eventually came to a stop next to a tree where a backpack and a set of metal armor and weapons was placed.

The beast's body convulsed as he fell to his knees, his arms and legs shortened to human proportions, his tail and fur vanished, and when the process was complete a tall naked man stood up once more. He had pale pinkish skin, shoulder-length messy blond hair, blue eyes, and a dusting of blond facial hair across his jaw and mouth. He was a well built man, and in good physical condition, strong muscles covering his body that many woman would enjoy looking at.

This man's name was Rolfe, and he was a werewolf, a mortal being with a wolf bonded to his own spirit

"Well, that's one less band of criminals who will cause trouble." Rolfe said to himself as he put his discarded armor back on, which would have been destroyed if he'd worn it while transforming, he learned that lesson the hard way.

_"And I'm satisfied for another week or two. The Lord of the Hunt will smile on us both for our prowess and cooperation."_ Beoltag spoke in Rolfe's mind through the connection in their intertwined souls. As long as they were in the same body, they could speak to one another in both human and beast forms.

"Kill two birds with one arrow, I told you this agreement would work out. We clear out criminals and make it safe for others in the countryside, and you get to feed and grow stronger. Much better then yelling at each other to take control, right?" Rolfe spoke to Beoltag while he put his family's war axe in a ring on his hip, and then attached his circular shield to his back by hooking it onto a strap on his armor.

_"Remember what I teach you, the honor is in the hunt, it's not all about feeding. There is no honor in slaying and devouring prey that has no chance of escape. Only by outplaying and defeating your prey before they can escape will you receive honor, and more honor will earn us a place in the pack when we die and go to the Hunting Grounds." _Beoltag explained, referencing the ideas of honor and the hunt that he explained to Rolfe in the past, as part of their time together.

Rolfe frowned as Beoltag brought up the Hunting Grounds. "You know I will not set foot in your Lord's realm, you may wish to go there, but I do not. When I die, I will join my ancestors in Sovngarde on the day I fall in battle. If that means we must part ways at some point, then so be it."

_"Face the facts Rolfe, if you really wanted me gone, you would have put more effort into finding a way to remove my spirit from your body. You enjoy the rush of the hunt, you feel right hunting the wicked as your prey, and you want to do it more often. Why stay in the city where you are in fear of being discovered and hunted down? Why not come out here and let yourself be free?"_

"We've been over this Beoltag, I am not going to let you turn me into some hunting zealot, just so you can have more free time in the woods. You may be a wolf, but I was born a Nord, and by the gods I'm going to live like one; I'm going to serve my people with honor, meet a woman I love and start a family, not spend all my time stalking prey in the woods."

_"Aw, and you don't want me around to help raise your little pups? I'm hurt, and it's not like they're guaranteed to become werewolves just because their father is one. You can't deny that you enjoy the thrill of the hunt, and even if you do find a way to free yourself of me, you'll miss the hunts we had together; you may have your wife and your kids someday, but at the cost of the power and skill of a great hunter? Before you do anything, ask yourself, is it worth it?"_

"Right, right, you've made your point, think before you leap. Now it's time for sleep, I've got patrols to do tomorrow, and people may report the bandit's bodies when they come across them." Rolfe spoke as he picked up his satchel and walked off into the woods.


End file.
